Raising a smart & happy baby

When the magic day arrives that your baby takes that first step, or crawl, you are faced with an issue that up until then you may have not fully understood.

Your baby is always on the move, and is endlessly curious about anything and everything. You may have already "baby proofed" your house, but if this is your first baby you probably didn't fully understand all that this entails. You end up going through new iterations of baby proofing when you quickly see where he goes, what he tries to grab and pull down, etc.

He or she goes everywhere, is into everything, your baby wants to touch everything, grab everything, put it in his or her mouth. Months of pent up curiosity are unleashed in a fearless form of exuberant mobile energy. The harm your baby can do to your house, and much worse to himself, is scary.

Although you mentally know this journey of exploration your baby is making helps him expand his mind, you are still faced with the fear that your baby will hurt himself somehow.

You may have earlier made a decision that you would NOT be buying a baby 'jail'. That your baby will be free to explore. But then reality steps in. You are home, alone with your child perhaps. There are times when you have to use the washroom, make yourself lunch and eat, or other mundane things. Your baby is not happy sitting still. He wants to move, roam around, use his legs. You've baby-proofed the area he's roaming in, but you are still fearful at times and want a 'time out' safer holding area you can quickly put him in for a few moments here and there.

If you buy a playpen, and start using it. There might be a feeling of guilt that you are a bad parent, locking your baby up in a jail that he can't get out. Stunting his learning possibilities, stopping him from being that smart and happy baby. But then if you don't get a playpen, what do you do? Stick your baby back in his crib when you need a couple minutes? Isn't that worse than a playpen?

I think yes, buy a nice large playpen (jail). Just try not to over use it. Use it only when you must. Realize that it's a necessary evil. That your baby needs endless opportunities of supervised exploration to grow. Try to baby proof the rooms he's in as much as possible so the room becomes his actual "playpen" instead if possible.

Also realize that having your baby in the playpen doesn't mean he/she can be unsupervised unless the playpen and items inside actually say that. Some playpens have more worries than a crib does. Loose pockets, strings of toys, strangulation risks, etc. So make sure you do your research first on whatever particular playpen you get and whatever toys or items might go in there with your baby.

In our situation, I really wish that both of us could stay home to take care of our baby together. It really takes a team to raise a smart & happy baby and it's difficult for one parent to do it on his/her own while the other is at work. Having family members who are willing to help are greatly appreciated.